


there's no more use in running

by sophwrites



Series: hold your breath and count to ten [1]
Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, James Bond AU, M/M, robert is 005 and aaron is 006
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-07-04 18:17:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15846741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophwrites/pseuds/sophwrites
Summary: “Robert—Robert,” Aaron’s panting, they’re running and there’s gunshots going off everywhere. The operation was never meant to go like this, M is going to have them both by their balls if they don’t turn this around.The adventures of 005 and 006.





	there's no more use in running

  
  


“Robert— _Robert_ ,” Aaron’s panting, they’re running and there’s gunshots going off everywhere. The operation was never meant to go like this, M is going to have them both by their balls if they don’t turn this around.

“Aaron,” he’s gasping. Robert’s been shot, left shoulder. He’s had worse, Aaron knows, he  _knows_ , been there to see it all, but he can tell his partner is still struggling. “Come on, if we go down here we can hopefully get lost in the market.”

It’s lucky his shout is all but lost to the wind, and they duck sharply left into the Italian market stalls and hope.

Double-oh agents don’t usually have partners. It’s their tendency to work alone. Robert has no family, Aaron knows. Well, no family that he hasn’t given up on, at least. His dad is dead, he hates his brother. He’d had to have intensive training to get over the trauma of his mother, Aaron knows.

The only one he really misses is his sister. He told Aaron her name, Vic, and he knows the weight of what that means. They aren’t supposed to know anything about each other, not really.

They’d hated each other at first. Not that they saw each other a lot at HQ, but when they did, there was always a screaming match. Aaron knew they were lucky they both hadn’t been demoted, but their work in the field was too valuable.

Then one day, it had all changed.

Robert had been hissing at him, just the two of them alone in a corridor. Robert had looked livid, Aaron remembers, eyes blazing. Then he’d kissed him. Full on, pushed Aaron against the wall, snogged his face off and Aaron had only had time to think  _yes_  before he got lost in it.

And that’s how it kept happening. And escalating.

Robert had made clear he’d sort out the security tapes, and Aaron didn’t really care. Inter-work relationships weren’t necessarily forbidden, just ill-advised. Then again, people understood the strain the double-oh’s were under, so they were willing to turn a blind eye to their behaviour.

Not that anyone knew, Aaron was sure of it.

They’d never been caught, and in those first few months, the atmosphere was still hostile. Then gradually over time they’d seen each other more, paid each other’s bodies more attention, grown closer, and it had been easier to love Robert than to hate him. Aaron would never admit it to Robert, but he was falling for him amidst their sex, and he had no clue what to do about it.

M—real name Moira Barton, although Aaron wasn’t supposed to know that—had noticed their change in demeanour, and she called them both in one day. They were convinced they were going to get the full bollocking, but in reality, she’d surprised them.

“You two have been getting on much better,” Aaron remembers her firm tone clearly, “And we need a pair of agents for this next job, so. It’s time to put it all to the test. 005, 006, we’ll be sending you both to Dubai tomorrow morning. Collect your brief from Q. That’s all.”

They’d stared at each other wide-eyed in the corridor, not sure how to feel. If Aaron’s hands knew how to shake anymore, he’s sure they would have been in that moment.

“We can’t…” He’d started, not sure where he was going with his words. “We can’t let it get in the way. Us. This has to be about the op.”

Robert had nodded solemnly, giving Aaron’s arm a squeeze. “I promise to be professional, 006.”

Aaron had smiled despite himself, shaking his head. They never called each other by their numbers, it almost sounding too cheesy. That was for everyone else. This was  _Robert_ , and he was  _Aaron_  and that was that.

That mission had gone well. They’d recovered millions in stolen goods from a ring of people-traffickers, the thought making Aaron sick. He’d been shaken after that one, sitting at the edge of his hotel bed as Robert loosened his tie and threw it on his own, single bed.

“Hey, Aaron,” he’d started, and stopped at the fearful look in Aaron’s eyes. Robert had fucked the sadness out of him that night, and he’d never been more grateful.

In the present, Aaron dodges left as he feels a bullet whizzing past his right ear.  _Too close_. Him and Robert are separated by an aisle and they’re alone, both having crushed their earpieces when they feared they were going to get caught.

“Robert, we’re going to—it’s not going to—” he’s not making sense he knows, but Robert seems to understand him. He nods and stops running, coming to stand beside him, and Aaron stops too. He’s sure there’s a truly terrified look in his eyes as Robert reloads his gun. They’ve got seconds, and Robert has decided they’re going to fight.

“If I don’t make it out of this—” Robert starts.

“ _Don’t_ ,” Aaron says softly, “I’ll get us out of this, alright?” and then someone’s foot comes entirely too close to his face. He manages to knock one of them unconscious, but there’s another two balaclava-clad men on top of Robert and he shoots one in the right shoulder.  _Payback_.

But then there’s a stalemate. The last attacker has a gun to Robert’s head and Robert is bleeding out, and Aaron’s too late.

“You,” the man says, his balaclava slightly out of place, “Go. We’re taking him.”

“No!” Aaron steps forward, but the man jams the gun harder against Robert’s temple. Aaron knows he’s being completely unprofessional when tears start to pool in his eyes, but he can’t help it. This is the man he  _loves_.

“You were the only person I thought I could trust,” Robert says, a pained look in his eyes, “Prove to me that you still are. Find me.”

Aaron’s guard is down, he knows, and then he feels a  _thwack_  round the back of his head and everything goes dark.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by a prompt given to me on [tumblr](http://jonathanlbyers.tumblr.com/post/177376279112/you-were-the-only-person-i-thought-i-could), "You were the only person I thought I could trust." I'm hoping to add to this universe in the future so thought I would post the first part here :) 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, and please let me know what you think? <3


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